Various high-throughput experiments may be used to measure alterations in DNA, RNA, protein, and metabolite levels between disease and control systems. In order to understand the pathogenesis of a disease, analysis and prediction of one or more underlying mechanisms causing and/or linking changes in various classes of molecules may be helpful for understanding, preventing, and/or treating disease.
Metabolomics, the study of chemical processes involving metabolites, represents one important aspect of cellular function. A metabolome represents the collection of all metabolites, which are the end products of cellular processes, in a biological cell, tissue, organ, or organism. Untargeted metabolomics involves measuring relative levels of metabolite features between disease and control systems. For example, untargeted metabolomics may include affinity purification of metabolites then using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), an analytical chemistry technique that combines the physical separation capabilities of liquid chromatography (LC) with the mass analysis capabilities of mass spectrometry (MS).